Crossfire
by David Shigure
Summary: The Tuatha De Danaan is in for repair for six months, leaving Tessa in the care of Sousuke. Reminiscent of the last time Sousuke had to take care of the captain, will Sousuke be able to handle Tessa and Kaname's personal war for his affection?
1. A Goddess Comes to Japan, Again

'Crossfire'

Chapter 1: A Goddess Comes to Japan, Again

_One week previously..._

"Captain! We are almost at the base. The Danaan's going to make it."

"I'm getting unstable readings from the reactor. It doesn't look to happy ma'am!"

The Tuatha De Danaan had just returned from an extended mission. A mission that hadn't gone too well. There were breaches in the hull all over the sub from numerous missile attacks that had barely been defended from. And the inside was as much as a wreak as the outside was, with collapsed hallways, steel doors wrenched from their hinges onto the floors and Arm Slaves that had been torn limb from limb, littering the floor of the main hangar bay.

Captain Teletha Tessa Testarossa was sitting in the bridge, on her captain's chair. She was fiddling with her ponytail and kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. The mission had almost cost the submarine's crew their lives. They had been lucky to return from the mission alive.

"Reduce speed and make the preparations to dock. Nobody relaxes until you're off the Danaan." She commanded. The reactor powering the ship had been under a lot of stress from the fight. It was stable, but it was a nuclear reactor, and she didn't want to put anymore pressure than what was absolutely necessary on it.

Commander Mardukas relayed the Captain's orders in his usual fashion, but she could barely hear his voice. She was still caught up in her thoughts, and barely even noticed it when the submarine finally docked.

"Captain, the Danaan has docked."

Tessa came back to reality, and nodded. "Good work gentlemen. Prepare to disembark immediately."

"Aye Captain."

"_All personnel, please prepare to disembark at once." _The captain's voice echoed throughout the main hangar bay. Sousuke Sagara, Kurz Weber and Melissa Mao were all sitting on a bench in front of the Arbalest, one of the few machines to make it out of the mission without ending up on the floor in pieces. Kurz had his arm in a sling, and Sousuke had bandages over his head. Melissa was the only one who appeared unharmed, although she winced in pain as she tried to stand up.

"Come on guys, lets get out of here."

The two male soldiers nodded, and quietly stood up to follow her. Both were silent as they followed her.

Walking down the hall towards the exit, Sousuke spotted Tessa walking towards them. She looked tired, and defeated. She caught him looking and smiled weakly.

"Sergeant, are you alright?" She had her eyes on the bandages covering his head.

"I'm fine Captain. Just some minor injuries."

She nodded, and her smile faded away. "Lets hurry." The two parties both disembarked the Danaan.

-

Sousuke and Kurz had both been transferred to the nearby military hospital. They were both stuck in bed, even though there was nothing wrong with their legs. Tessa and Mao were sitting with them.

"So what happens now?" Melissa asked. She got the feeling that there wouldn't be a mission for a while, with the Tuatha De Danaan out of action, as well as many of the M9's being out of commission.

"We'll have to wait for the repairs to finish." Tessa said quietly. "But that could take a very long time, considering the extent of the damage." She looked up at Sousuke. "However, your other mission still remains the same regarding Kaname Chidori."

"Understood, Captain." Sousuke nodded. Tessa nodded back, but felt a little disheartened. It had been a long time since Sousuke had called him Tessa. She had been longing to him say it again, occasionally considering giving him an order to be less formal when no other high-ranking members of the crew were around. But after thinking such thoughts, she was also torn as to whether or not that was an abuse of power...

"Captain, are you okay?" Sousuke was looking at her with concern. "You seem upset."

Tessa quickly shook her head and faked a smile. "I'm fine Sergeant, I'm just a little bit upset about the Danaan and that last mission." Even though she said it, she knew that it was only half-true. Melissa and even Kurz had caught on to her though. Sousuke could be oblivious to the captains feelings, but they could see right through the captains charade.

"_Just call her Tessa you fool." _Melissa sighed.

"_I think I'm going to have a little chat with Sousuke when the girls go. How could anyone not see the captain just wants him to be a little more informal with her, at least?" _Kurz felt mentally exasperated at Sousuke's obliviousness

The silence was quickly interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant Commander Kalinin.

"Captain, it has been estimated that the repairs on the Danaan could take anywhere from three to six months."

"Three to six months!" Kurz burst out suddenly. "What are we supposed to do for that long?"

Kalinin gave him a quiet, calm but deadly glare as he spoke again. "From now on, you are to support Sousuke in his other mission, as well as safeguard Captain Testarossa."

"Safeguard the captain...?" Melissa said slowly. "You don't mean?"

Sousuke had already started to sweat as he realised what Kalinin meant, as Kalinin confirmed his death sentence. "The Captain will be going with you to Japan. This is an order from Lord Mallory himself, who says it will help the captain and her surrounding crew mature to the ways of civilian society for deep cover and infiltration missions."

"S-she's... coming with us...?" Sousuke stuttered. Last time, the captain had stayed for a mere two weeks. And that had been hard enough. This time, it could be for up to six months...

Unlike Sousuke, Tessa has a wide grin on her face. She finally had a chance to forget about her duties for a while, and just act like a normal, seventeen year old girl. She was looking forward to it already, and mainly because of the now-panicking Sousuke in the bed beside her.

"Oh, and Sousuke? Commander Mardukas asked me to pass on a message to you. He says that the little talk he had with you the last time a situation like this occurred still applies, and that he won't hesitate if anything happens to the captain."

Sousuke swallowed in fear, and nodded slowly. Kaname was not going to like this when he got back to Tokyo...

Tessa giggled silently next to him, looking forward to the time she was going to spend with her favourite sergeant.

-

_Present day..._

The sun rose on another beautiful day in Tokyo.

Through the gap in the curtains, a thin ray of light softly illuminated the face of a sleeping Tessa, as she dreamed peacefully. A little further on, slightly in the shadows was Melissa, safely handcuffed to the captain. It had become a regular thing, but Tessa still wasn't happy with the arrangement.

In the other room, Sousuke slept restlessly, his dreams being slightly more worrying. He was also handcuffed, to an unfortunate Kurz Weber who had proclaimed loudly against the idea of having to be cuffed and forced to sleep next to another male. But, as everybody tried to remind him, it was for his own safety. And it didn't make the captain feel left out.

Sousuke groaned in his sleep, as his dreams began to scare him. He could see an angry Kaname with her lethal paper fan, who was raging because of Tessa. Then he saw a seductive Tessa trying to sneak into his bed. Shortly afterwards, his brain kick-started from his perverse dreams and shot into consciousness. Breathing heavily, he tried to push both girls out of his mind.

He looked over at the sleeping Tessa, through the gap in the door. She was wearing a smile, the kind of smile she rarely wore when she was on the Tuatha De Danaan. It was the smile of a teenage girl with nothing to worry about. Seeing her so calm and relaxed, Sousuke felt himself smile a little. It was good to see her happy.

His mind suddenly panicked when one of her eyelids fluttered and slowly opened. A sparkling gray eye opened up slowly, and picked out Sousuke who had frozen, his mind racing. Her smile grew wider as she gently stretched out her arms and yawned.

"Good morning... Sousuke." Not long after they arrived, she had started calling him by his normal name, instead of Sergeant, or Mr. Sagara. She had said it was because while he was here, she wanted to feel like a normal girl. Which naturally meant, he had been given an order directly from her that dictated he wasn't allowed to call her Captain, or Miss Testarossa. She was Tessa, even when they returned to the Danaan and they weren't around high-ranking officers. When he had told Kurz, he had simply laughed and said it was the captain abusing her power and having fun.

It still took him a while to remember not to call her captain though. "Good morning... Tessa."

She grinned when she heard her name. Like she always did when he said her real name. It always sounded better than captain. "So what are we doing today." She wanted to stand up and stretch, but being cuffed to Melissa meant she had to lie on her side and stare at Sousuke. Which wasn't such a bad thing to her.

Sousuke thought about it for a moment. Today was a Saturday, which meant they could do anything. They didn't have school, but Melissa and Kurz were going out for a while. They had told him yesterday it was just a little surrounding reconnaissance. Which meant to him they were going out and having fun, leaving him in another awkward situation.

He looked up at her. "Well, anything. We don't have anything in particular to do today, so you can decide."

Tessa put her finger to her lips and looked up, thinking about it. "I think I'll figure it out over breakfast, its still early morning." She yawned again and looked back at Sousuke. "Hey Sousuke?"

"Yeah?"

Tessa giggled. "Can I have a morning kiss?"

His reaction to the question was a sight to behold. Instant perspiration, a flushed face, and a million and one thoughts racing through his mind, with quite a few of them being Commander Mardukas yelling at him not to not do anything stupid. By the time he thought of answering, Tessa had already leaned over, with half her face hidden by the slightly open door with a smile. "So-us-uke..." She emphasized the syllables on his name, and closed her eyes, with her lips softly glistening in the low light.

His rational thinking processes had suddenly gone into overdrive, and his brain was steaming. He didn't know what to do, and his body had stopped moving. But before he even had a chance to react, Kurz rolled over in his sleep, pushing Sousuke towards the slightly open door.  
With a yelp of surprise, Sousuke fell forward. His face had stopped inches away from Tessa's. Tessa had opened her eyes, and suddenly realised how close they were. Without even thinking about it, she quickly leant forward and gave Sousuke a peck on the lips.

Reacting as though he'd just been shot, he jumped backwards. He could feel his heartbeat accelerating to beyond the speed of a missile, whilst Tessa giggled softly.

"I guess this means me and Kaname are on equal grounds now." She said softly. Her eyes were still staring at him, and he could still feel her lips on his. He didn't know what to do, but he was so glad that Kaname hadn't seen it.

As soon as the thought had crossed his mind however, there was a familiar knocking on his door.

"Sousuke, you up yet?" The familiar voice of Kaname Chidori echoed from his front door, causing both Tessa and Sousuke to jump out of their skin.

The morning had just begun, but Sousuke was already exhausted. To him, this was going to be a long six months...

* * *

I've been dying to write a Full Metal Panic! story. I'm hoping this turns out well, but it more or less follows the Fumoffu! side of the story, because it made me lol so many times.  
However, I've yet to decide whether this is going to be a SousukexTessa, or a SousukexKaname.  
Reviews might determine the outcome though, so please R&R :)  
Thank you muchlies


	2. Nostalgia

It's been a while, sorry guys. You would not believe some of the things that happened to distract me from fanfiction, but I think you've all waited long enough. Here's an extra long piece that's supposed to resemble a chapter 2 :) Enjoy.

* * *

'Crossfire'

Chapter 2: Nostalgia

Walking towards the gates of Jindai High, Sousuke was dreading the day.

Standing next to him, Tessa was beaming. She had absolutely loved this school the last time she had been here, and she had missed the friends she had made whilst she had been away. It was a time long overdue to catch up with them.

"Sousuke, no one is going to attack her in broad daylight." Kaname was also walking alongside them, definitely not in the best of moods, which was further irritated by Sousuke constantly hovering his hand over his concealed gun.

"It'll be fine. At the moment, there is no strategic value to attacking me in any way, so I doubt anything will happen." Tessa's eyes were drawn to the sergeant. "I appreciate it all the same though."

Not knowing how to react, Sousuke stayed silent. Sure, he already knew that the risk of an attack was minimal. But there was still a risk, and his soldier paranoia refused to let him forget it. On the other hand, maybe he could be a little more subtle about it.

Home room was an interesting event that day. The teacher reintroduced the class to Tessa, which then proceeded with the biggest outburst of emotion since the bio-chemical water bottle incident. She was overjoyed, and a little flustered. But it was the happiest that she had been in a long time. Seeing the captain with the cute smile on her face actually made Sousuke forget for a second about the dangers of protecting her. He smiled a little himself. Maybe this whole thing wouldn't be so bad if he just calmed himself down a little.

Kaname was happy too. Sure, okay they had a rivalry going on, but Tessa wasn't a bad girl. Stubborn, okay, but then so was she. Probably even more so than her. It was reassuring to have her in the same class. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the thought of her fighting in a dark and dingy submarine god knows how many miles away had her on a constant worry for the captain's safety. At least if she was here in Jindai High, she could deal with Tessa annoying her.

The first subject of the day was English. A subject that Tessa was surprisingly good at.

"...and then the rose turned to ash, right before her very eyes." Tessa read from a novel they were studying in class. Even her pronunciation and accent were spot on. As she finished, the whole class clapped for her, with Sousuke and Kaname joining in.

"That was beautiful Tessa. How on earth did you get so proficient at English?" The teacher didn't know anything about Tessa's background, and Tessa was better at covering her second life then Sousuke was. As usual, she managed to pull a perfect cover story out of thin air.

"I used to travel a lot when I was younger with my guardian, and we frequently went to England where I made a few friends. So I tried hard with English to be able to talk with them more." It was true that she did go to England a few times, but it was always for mission-based duty, to which the military had asked her to study English using one of their intense training courses.

"That's truly admirable." The teacher beamed at her, before turning to the rest of her students. "Take an example from her everyone! Go make some friends in foreign countries, and languages come to you faster."

The day progressed nicely afterwards. It was stressful to Sousuke all the same, as some of their classes separated the boys and girls. But luckily, Kaname was in a good enough mood to persuade him that she would keep an eye on her. He went to his Physical Education lesson a little less anxious after that.

That is, until Kyoko came running from the gymnasium, screaming his name.

"Sousuke, we've got trouble! Tessa's hurt!"

He very nearly crapped himself. Running towards the gymnasium, his thoughts were instantly filled with bombs, assassins, poisons and everything that could possibly hurt the captain. It gave him an adrenaline boost, leaving poor Kyoko a mile behind.

"Wait, Sousuke!" She stopped to catch her breath, whilst watching Sousuke leave dust in his wake. "He is not human. Although I'm not exactly in a perfect state of health either..."

Flinging open the gym doors, Sousuke surveyed the situation as best as he could. There was a crowd gathered, with Kaname holding Tessa in her arms. From his position, the best that he could ascertain was that she was unconscious.

"What happened?" He rushed over and was kneeling by Tessa's side before anyone had blinked. Doing all the quick first-aid checks, he came to the conclusion that she was breathing normally, she had no fever and her pulse was a little high, but he could write that off as excitement from some sort of trauma.

"We were all playing volleyball. I lobbed the ball over to her, but she didn't catch it, she just stood still and collapsed where she stood." Kaname had an uncharacteristic sense of worry in her voice. And this was the same girl who rarely panicked, for most things. "She looked listless... She was fine a few minutes before..."

So she had fainted, but the cause was unknown. Looking a little closer, Sousuke noticed that Tessa was wearing a fair bit more make-up then normal. And he hadn't noticed it earlier, but he suddenly realised that she had a bandage on one of her fingers. Gently rubbing off the make-up under her eyes, he saw clear as day, shadows under her eyes. She was physically exhausted.

"She's been working too hard." He almost allowed himself to breath a sigh of relief. He still needed to take her to the nurses office.

"How did you know? I mean, she'd disguised it so well..." Kaname nodded towards the shadows under her eyes. He smiled in response.

"She does it a lot on the sub. She works way too hard for a girl her age. All the late-night meetings, briefings and then writing reports until silly o'clock in the morning. This isn't the first time she's collapsed and we've found the 'evidence'."

"Reminds me of that incident last time she was here, except it was you collapsing from intense stress..." Kaname chided softly. "But girls are a little more fragile then you, she must've been doing something important..."

In the end, Sousuke took the unconscious girl to the nurses office, and stayed with her until the end of the day. Just before packing up her own stuff, Kaname went to gather Tessa's bag and other items. Just as she was finishing up, she noticed a few containers buried at the bottom. Gingerly taking them from the bag, she unwrapped the cloth around them to discover two bento lunches.

"So that's your game, huh Tessa?" She grinned to herself. It explained the bandages on her hands from earlier. And the staying up late thing, sounded just like her to get the perfection in a bento that she wanted. Well, two could play at that game.

In the nurses office, Tessa was beginning to come round. Blinking a few times, she registered that Sousuke was sitting close to her. He looked a little worried, but smiled when she over into his direction. Trying to sit up slowly, she figured out where she was and quickly tried to remember what happened. But Sousuke was quicker at filling in the details.

"How are you feeling? You collapsed in the middle of gym class."

She suddenly felt embarrassed. Just like her to overdo things and collapse, but on her first day too. She really needed to get her body back into a normal routine. But when she thought about it, she didn't quite know what normal was for a high school girl. Her normal was giving out orders on a submarine.

"I'm sorry..." She smiled weakly. "I didn't mean to make anyone worry." She started playing with her hair as she spoke. "How long have you been waiting for?"

He glanced at his watch. "About an hour and a half?

A whole hour and a half. That's a long time be sitting around, waiting for someone to regain conscious. Her guilty feelings increased a notch. Sousuke noticed that she suddenly went quiet. His time with Kaname had made him realise that this was not a good thing with girls. It was like the silence before an artillery bombardment.

"While you were asleep..." He began slowly. "I noticed something...different about you." He was choosing his words carefully. The 'different' keyword would have her mind working in two different directions. A good 'different' or a bad one?

His prediction was correct, just by watching her reaction. She suddenly seemed alert, and her eyes were fixed on his.

"You seem like, you're enjoying life a bit more. Like, a normal high school girl. You seem less like a captain, which...is what you want, right?"

Nodding slowly, Tessa could feel a small amount of joy lift her spirits. He was beginning to acknowledge her as a girl, and not as his commanding officer. This was something she had wanted for a long time, and now that the chance was finally here, she was going to seize it by the ears and drag it home.

"Yes, it is." She kept her eyes transfixed on Sousuke's. "I want to be a normal girl, or at least, I want to be able to experience some of the things a normal high school girl would experience. I want to forget submarines, orders, ranks and missions for the whole time that I'm here. I wish I didn't have the powers I do. I'm given all the responsibility of keeping the world safe, when girls my age are stressing out about exams and boys..." She paused for a second. "There is one thing I'm glad of though."

Sousuke could feel the atmosphere change. It was the same kind of atmosphere whenever the captain tried to come on to him. Except this time, it felt different.

"I'm glad I was able to meet you on the Tuatha." She was drawing herself closer. Sousuke froze in his chair. He couldn't draw his eyes away from the girl moving closer in front of him.

"There's been so much I've wanted to say to you. So much that I've wanted to... do with you..." She was inches away now. She draped her arms gently around his neck, her nose rubbing gently again his. He could feel her breathing rapidly, and he could feel her arms shaking like crazy. "Sousuke... I..."

At this point, he'd normally be curled up in the fetal position, crying in a corner of the room with thoughts on how Commander Mardukas was going to paint the sub interior with his blood. But today, things were different. He felt something, an emotion that wasn't panic, anger or protecting something important. He didn't know what it was, only that it was the thing driving him forward.

"Sousuke..." Her whole body was trembling. It took a lot, but she managed to get the words out. "I... love you..." Not even waiting for a response, she pressed her lips up against his. Holding his head, while she stood on her knees on the bed, she kissed him passionately. She was surprised, and overjoyed, because he wasn't pushing her away. He was responding with a slightly unsure passion of his own. If he didn't know what he was doing, and she barely knew what she was doing, then she would just have to take charge.

Moving from the bed, she sat in his lap, her legs wrapped around his back, still kissing him like as though he was going to melt away in a few minutes, she felt her whole body get incredibly hot. She was sure her whole body was bright red with a flush, but she didn't care. She had dreamed of this moment for long enough, and now that it was here, she was going to enjoy it.

Kaname was walking from the classroom, on the way to the nurses office. The whole way had her thinking of what she could make for Sousuke in a bento. He pretty much ate anything that didn't poison him, so she had a million different recipes she could choose from. It annoyed her though, she had known him long enough and she still didn't know much of what he liked and didn't like. She would have to change that, the game was well and truly on now.

In the nurses office, Tessa had broken away just to catch her breath. Her face was burning from passion, and her heartbeat must've been well past it's maximum. She felt ecstatic, whilst Sousuke looked completely confused.

"How did it feel, Sousuke?" She bent down and gently whispered it into his ear. It tickled his ear, and he liked it. He nodded slowly.

"It...felt good. I..." He was stopped by another kiss from her. A few seconds later, she drew away, with a flirtatious smile.

"I can give you as many as you want. All you have to do is ask." She was rubbing noses again, whilst enjoying the look in Sousuke's eyes. She suddenly heard footsteps in the hallway.

"Kaname... crap!" She leaped back into bed like a shot. Sousuke's chair was still wobbling around a little when Kaname opened the door. He felt relieved, but at the same time, Sousuke felt a little guilty. Like a boy caught with his hand in a cookie jar, except this time, he had gotten away with the cookie, and realised what he'd done was a naughty thing.

The three of them went home together. It was late, and the sky was already dark. Tessa wanted to go home to make a report, so they dropped her home. Kaname then realised she wanted to do some food shopping, and took Sousuke with her to the nearest Lawsons.

"You've been quiet the whole way home." Kaname noted. "Are you okay?" His thoughts had been full of the captain, and what had happened between them earlier. He still couldn't get his head wrapped around the events.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He tried his best to sound normal. His voice wasn't giving it any enthusiasm though, and Kaname narrowed her eyes.

"Well, if you say so." They walked round the convenience store in a flash to buy their separate things. After having paid and leaving promptly, Kaname decided to question him again. She could feel something was off with him.

"Did something happen with Tessa?"

If the situation had been different, she would've found his reaction priceless. He looked at her with complete panic and started mumbling and sweating. That was all the confirmation she needed.

"So what did you guys do." Her heart had sunk, but something told her not to be angry. It was still early days, she could catch up if she had to. It took a lot of convincing to Sousuke that she wasn't going to whack him or hurt him in any way, and eventually he slowly began to explain what had happened.

By the end of it, they had arrived at Kaname's apartment, and she was fuming. Sousuke was expectedly looking terrified. After a few deep breaths, Sousuke saw her calm down for the first time in his life.

She quickly looked up at Sousuke's apartment, and saw nothing but a dark and curtained off room. Grabbing Sousuke's arm, she opened her apartment door in a split second and dragged him inside. Locking and double locking the door, she dumped her stuff into the kitchen and walked into the main room. Sousuke watched her, fearing for his life.

After she had finished whatever she had been doing, she marched up to Sousuke. Taking one more deep breath, she took on a determined look.

"Do you like Tessa?"

"I...I don't know... I..." He was silenced by a finger on his lips. Kaname was still glaring at him. Inside, she suddenly realised he wasn't sure of his feelings yet. Tessa hadn't gotten too far ahead, but she had taken the lead. She had to follow and overtake her, and to follow meant doing the same as she had. She had one last question for him before that though.

"Do you like...me?" She wavered on the last part, but it still came out. It was embarrassing, but she could deal with it, just this once.

"I..." He was trapped. He couldn't take his eyes off of hers. And that strange sensation came back. His words got caught in his throat, and he froze up again.

"Because..." Her finger moved, and her hands found a place behind him, resting together on his back. "I like you."

His heartbeat quickened to lightning pace, and his brain shut down. Her face was beautiful, even in the dark light they were in. The only thing illuminating the room was the half-moon outside her windows. His arms slowly went around her slim waist.

"Actually..." Kaname's face drew a little closer. The situation was exactly the same. Her breathing was shuddering, and her whole body was shaking. He suddenly realised these girls had never experienced these same emotions he was getting right now.

"Actually, I... love you Sousuke." Her lips were parted, her eyes were slowly closing too. Before he knew it, they were pressing lips against each other, slowly at first. Dragging him down slowly, Kaname dragged him onto the floor, with her on the bottom and Sousuke gently trying to lower himself onto her. They spent a long time like that, passionately kissing, grinding against each other and enjoying the other's emotion. Kaname could feel her own body heat up, and could tell the same was happening with the guy on top of her. More than anything, she noticed his secret weapon was poking her in the groin. And she was sort of turned on by it.

The moonlight illuminated the two indulging in their passions, never one to judge, providing them with all the light they could ever need.


End file.
